page_title: Nicholas Senn
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Nicholas Senn / Career
caption_attribution_description: English: Rush Medical College professor of surgery, Nicholas Senn, MD, was the first surgeon to detect intestinal perforation by inflation with hydrogen gas. This photograph depicts Senn conducting a surgical clinic for medical students in 1895.
context_page_description: Nicholas Senn was an American surgeon, instructor, and founder of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States. He served as the president of the American Medical Association in 1897–98 and as chief surgeon of the Sixth Army Corps in 1898, seeing service in Cuba during the Spanish–American War. He was involved in experimental research, particularly of acute pancreatitis, plastic surgery, head and neck oncology, the intestinal tract, and the treatment of leukaemia with x-rays.
context_section_description: Senn spent the first few years after graduating as practitioner and resident physician at the Cook County Hospital in Chicago, later becoming attending physician in a Milwaukee hospital.
  In 1877, he left for the University of Munich for postgraduate study, graduating in 1878 with a second M.D.
  In 1878,  he joined the faculty of Rush Medical College in Chicago as Professor of Surgery.
  In 1884, he was appointed as Professor of Surgery at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago.
  Around 1886, Senn successfully tested the diagnosis of gastrointestinal perforation by inflation with hydrogen gas. Senn used a rubber balloon connected to a rubber tube inserted in his anus to pump 4 US gallons (15 L) of hydrogen gas into his intestinal tract.  An assistant sealed the tube by squeezing the anus against it. The hydrogen was inserted by squeezing the balloon while monitoring the pressure on a manometer. Senn had previously carried out this experiment on dogs to the point of rupturing the intestine.
  Between 1887 and 1888, he served as a Vice President of the American Surgical Association.
  In 1890, he became professor of practical and clinical surgery and surgical pathology at Rush Medical College, progressing to head of the department of surgery in 1891.
  
  In 1890, 1897, 1903 and 1906, he was a delegate to the International Medical Congress at Berlin, Moscow, Madrid and Lisbon.
  In 1891, he founded the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States and served as its president for the first two years.
  Between 1892 and 1893, he served as President of the American Surgical Association
  After 1893, he was attending surgeon at the Presbyterian Hospital and surgeon-in-chief of Saint Joseph's Hospital, as well as a professor of surgery at the Chicago Polyclinic and a lecturer on military surgery at the University of Chicago.
  In 1897, he was awarded a Ph.D. by the University of Wisconsin. He also served as the president of the American Medical Association in 1897–98.
  In 1898, following the outbreak of the Spanish–American War, he was appointed as chief surgeon of the United States Sixth Army Corps with the rank of lieutenant-colonel and chief of staff, and was involved in the Siege of Santiago in 1900.
  Sometime during his career, he was also Surgeon General of the National Guard of Illinois and Wisconsin, and founded the Association of Military Surgeons of the State of Illinois, which he presided over until his death.
caption: Senn conducts a surgical clinic for medical students, 1895.
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